The AOC Collection

Research  |  Donate to the AOC Collection

The Australian Opal Centre is building the world's greatest public collection of Australian opal, rare opalised fossils, opal-related geological samples and opal from around the world.

The collection also includes photographs and documents, artworks, opal mining and cutting machinery and other relics of life on Australia’s outback opal fields; and historical items such as a scientific instrument used at Australia’s CSIRO in the 1960s and 1970s to reveal the secrets of precious opal’s microstructure.

We even have a collection of poems, penned by 'The Shovel', available as the brilliant book 'Old Matey Over There: Poems from Lightning Ridge', published in 2010 by the Australian Opal Centre.

Already, the Australian Opal Centre has assembled the world’s premier public collection of opalised fossils from the Age of Dinosaurs, acquired one of the world’s most complete collections of opal-related publications and become a key provider of opal-related knowledge services.

At the AOC, Australia will finally have a fitting treasury for its spectacular National Gemstone and a place to celebrate the distinctive heritage and social history of Australia's opal mining towns - including the lives and achievements of their Aboriginal people, the remarkable multiculturalism of these areas, and the lives of the opal miners and their families.

The Australian Opal Centre's remarkable collection is being built by the community. Beautiful, valuable, scientifically and historically significant items are being donated by opal miners, collectors and enthusiasts who want their treasures to be kept safe and made accessible to people of present and future generations.

If you have something you think may belong in the collection of the Australian Opal Centre, read more here about donating to the collection, or contact us to discuss your special pieces.